Plans to ditch passports for travel between Australia and New Zealand are still in their early days, says Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne.
Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
The Australian government said it was looking into passport-less travel between the two countries.
It appears the announcement has caught New Zealand authorities by surprise.
Minister of Internal Affairs Peter Dunne wondered whether it might be some of the usual trans-Tasman rivalry.
"Pavlova, Phar Lap, it's the same sort of history, isn't it? But what I think you'd end up with is some form of common database, so it wouldn't be completely check-free."
Better data sharing meant that it was a logical extension, but there was still nothing formal on the table.
The system would use the current smart gates, with something similar to biometrics, he said.
